PLACE VAUQUELIN HERITAGE ON HIGH BELVEDERE. FORECOURT. Showcase. ANCHOR. THRESHOLD. LEGACY. THOROUGHFARE.
In redeveloping Place Vauquelin, Lemay has reimagined the monumental square to make it accessible and engaging for visitors while respecting its heritage character. It has introduced subdued yet welcoming urban furniture to best display its exceptional historic features, redefined its tree canopy for optimal views and user comfort; and ultimately overseen the rebirth of the entire site as a giant yet elegant lookout embracing Montreal’s urban and historic panorama.
4 5 Having belonged to all three levels of government, and as the The highest point in Old Montreal, the square is a natural lookout heart of Old Montreal’s prestigious Administrative District, over bustling Place Jacques-Cartier and Montreal’s Old Port to Place Vauquelin’s civic importance is well-established. It is the south, and in the opposite direction, Montreal’s Champ de flanked on two sides by majestic heritage buildings: Montreal Mars: a grassy former parade square displaying vestiges of City Hall, a treasure of Second Empire architecture; and the centuries-old fortifications. Beyond the Champ de Mars, across equally stately neoclassical Édifice Lucien-Saulnier, Montreal’s a busy recessed expressway, lies the vibrant skyline of modern oldest courthouse and now a municipal administrative building. Montreal. The square’s unique placement between old and new, and its past and potential status as a pedestrian hub at the centre of myriad routes, were important considerations in the development of this project, as was its potential as a forecourt for City Hall.
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A C B E D
H I
Key components of Montreal’s Administrative District include (A) the Montreal Courthouse, (B) the Lucien-Saulnier Building (a former courthouse) and (C) its Annex, (D) Place Vauquelin, (E) City Hall, (F) the Champ de Mars, (G) Municipal Court, (H) Ernest-Cormier Building and (I) Ramezay Castle .
JEAN VAUQUELIN Restoring and re-placing the square’s namesake statue was part of the Lemay mandate for the square. Jean Vauquelin had been a French navy captain who fought valiantly during the Seven Years’ War. His statue in Place Vauquelin faces that of Nelson’s Column in Place Jacques-Cartier to the south. Said column is named for Horatio Nelson, a successful and much- celebrated British flag officer during the Napoleonic Wars. Together, the monuments represent two of Montreal’s founding cultures. The statue of Jean Vauquelin faces south.
4 5 SITE EVOLUTION
The square’s early recorded history shows it to be part of a With the advent of the automobile, space on either side of the fief ceded to the Jesuits in 1692. Amid religious turmoil seven statue remained open to cars, and period photos even show decades later, it became Crown land and the site of a prison until it being used as a parking lot. In 1966, the decision was made 1836, when the Quebec government took its possession, later to restore Place Vauquelin and, as was popular at the time, its building Montreal’s first courthouse there. Neptune Square, surface was lowered to create a split-level, recessed space with named for its statue of the ancient Roman God of the Sea, soon four different heights. While this put an end to cars parking on took its place next to this courthouse. the site, it also limited access to the square itself, especially for those with strollers or limited mobility, and caused visual conflict In 1902, the City of Montreal began renting the land in question, with Notre-Dame Street. by this time adjacent to its City Hall building erected in 1878, and renamed it “City Hall Square” in 1924; however, a public campaign to rename it Place Vauquelin, and adorn it with a statue of Jean Vauquelin, succeeded a mere six years later.
1860 1956
1968 2014
6 7 1672
1ST COURTHOUSE 11STST COURTHOUSE COURTHOUSE
NOTRE DAME ST. E NOTRE DAME ST. E NOTRE DAME ST. E
ST-VINCENT ST. ST-VINCENT ST.
ST-VINCENT ST. ST-VINCENT ST.
ST-VINCENT ST. ST-VINCENT ST.
ST-CHARLES ST. ST-CHARLES ST-CHARLES ST. ST-CHARLES
1760 1803 1825
MUNICIPAL MUNICIPAL MUNICIPAL COURTHOUSE MUNICIPAL COURTHHOUSE COURTHOUSE CITY HALL COURTHOUSE CITY HALL
NOTRE DAME ST. E NOTRE DAME ST. E NOTRE DAME ST. E
PUBLIC PUBLIC MARKET MARKET
ST-VINCENT ST. ST-VINCENT ST.
ST-VINCENT ST. ST-VINCENT ST.
ST-VINCENT ST.
1860 1905 1915
PARKING PARKING
TERRACE TERRACE TERRACE
MUNICIPAL MUNICIPAL CITY OF MONTREAL COURTHOUSE COURTHOUSE CITY HALL CITY HALL CITY HALL
NOTRE DAME ST. E NOTRE DAME ST. E NOTRE DAME ST. E
ST-VINCENT ST. ST-VINCENT ST.
TIERED ST-VINCENT ST. TIERED PARKING PARKING
1960 1970 2000
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SITE EVOLUTION, CONT.
As North American car culture took greater hold, Old Montreal and its Administrative District saw themselves “cut off” from the rest of the city to make way for the new (again, recessed) Ville-Marie Expressway, running east-west just north of Place Vauquelin and its neighbouring Champ de Mars. Both sides of the highway evolved separately from that point on, with connecting streets between them few and far between. Place Vauquelin was no longer the thoroughfare it had once been. The northern façades of the Administrative District appeared to turn away from the City, their main access now via Notre-Dame Street to the south.
In 2015, when Lemay submitted its recommendations for the site, time and landscaping trends had not been kind to Vauquelin Square. Its recessed design limited visitor access. Trees and shrubs obstructed sight lines toward the Old Port and downtown: the square was closed in on itself, a place apart. The Administrative District, bordered by Expressway 720 to the north and the Old Port to the south.
The northern façades of City Hall and Édifice Lucien-Saulnier, flanking the new Place Vauquelin.
8 9 ARCHEOLOGY
The many layers of history underneath Place Vauquelin posed a challenge for the team. Not only did an archaeologist need to be on-site during construction, the configuration of the mechanical room for the the fountain had to be planned to not disturb the potential artefacts. Vestiges of the former courthouse and prison walls also needed to be preserved.
Preserving vestiges of the site’s former buildings. The fragility of the site demanded great care.
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GENESIS OF THE PROJECT
6 WithLA its PLACE overgrown COMME vegetation BELVÉDÈRE and the overarching presence of Entirely based on Lemay’s own master plan for the admi- the Ville-Marie Expressway slightly north, Place Vauquelin felt nistrative district, the Place Vauquelin Project respects and isolated. The Administrative District’s imposing north façades advances the plan’s principles, which include preserving and appeared to turn their backs on the Champ de Mars and modern re-establishing the sense of place. Montreal. Pavers, walls, fountain and furniture had fallen into 5 PLACE DES MONTRÉALAISES disrepair. Its lighting set-up lacked cohesion. The fountain was With regard to turning the Administrative District’s buildings singularly uninviting with its cobblestoned borders. back towards the north, to inviting people towards them, Place Vauquelin has already partially done this, achieving a half-turn The site was ripe for a project to celebrate Montreal’s 375th by providing a high-quality destination4 CHAMP among DE MARS them. Further anniversary…and so a plan for its rebirth became one of the phases and the genesis of the Place des Montréalaises will fulfil 3 PLACE VAUQUELIN milestone’s many legacies. this objective.ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT
The area north of Place Vauquelin is now about to come full With the optimization of the square’s tree cover, Place Vauquelin circle, with a long-awaited project to make the expressway’s is Old Montreal’s only vista to2 PLACEbe opened JACQUES-CARTIER up to such an extent. trench into a tunnel, covered with a multifunctional space to be Maximizing this quality was a key objective of the plan. known as the Place des Montréalaises. With the cityscape again united, Place Vauquelin’s role as a key place to visit and rest along a north-south axis – and a threshold between Old Montreal 1 OLD PORT OF MONTREAL and the rest of the city – will be renewed, its revitalization timely. RUE NOTRE-DAME E. RUE NOTRE-DAME RUE VIGER E. RUE RUE SAINT-ANTOINE E. RUE SAINT-ANTOINE RUE DE LA COMMUNE E.
5 4 3 2 1 PLACE DES MONTRÉALAISES CHAMP-DE-MARS PLACE VAUQUELIN PLACE JACQUES-CARTIER OLD PORT OF MONTRÉAL
ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT
ORIENTATION - Document de référence / Réaménagement de la Cité administrative, 2014. Groupe IBI-CHBA • Maintenir la relation visuelle axiale entre la place Jacques-Cartier et la place Vauquelin, dans l’optique d’une succession d’espaces ouverts, qui culmine sur le paysage urbain oert par l’espace dégagé du champ de Mars.
2015. 2015.
10 11 PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN AND COMPOSITION
Restoring Place Vauquelin was based on renewing and enhancing its formal characteristics; accentuating its monumental façades and their surroundings; introducing a forecourt for the City Hall building; helping the district’s buildings to turn and face the city and the Champ de Mars; protecting and showcasing wall remnants from the former courthouse and prison; emphasizing the square’s belvedere characteristics; and emphasizing the visual relationship between Place Jacques-Cartier and Place Vauquelin, a succession of open spaces culminating in the expanse of the Champ de Mars (and future Place des Montréalaises).
10 11 PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN AND COMPOSITION
1. BELVEDERE 2. ADJACENT MONUMENTAL FAÇADES Open up and multiply sightlines of the city, Reinforce the public space’s monumental as viewed from the square’s northern border. character by accentuating the lateral façades and entrances of the civic buildings next door. Prefer a lookout that is level with the square, maximizing vistas of the modern cityscape.
4. A LINK BETWEEN THE MODERN CITY AND 5. HISTORIC ARRANGEMENT 6. THE FOUNTAIN: A CONVERGENCE POINT ITS HISTORIC COUNTERPART – A COMMEMORATIVE FACE-TO-FACE AND AN ATTRACTION IN ITS OWN RIGHT Maintain and reinforce the square’s role Respect the historic north-south axis in the Maintain the presence of a fountain, transforming as a connector, straddling old and new. composition of various commemorative monuments the square into a convergence point at the heart and other centralizing objects. of the public space, inviting visitors to rest, refresh themselves and enjoy the performance of the fountain’s water jets.
7. HOSPITALITY, COMFORT AND GREENING 8. MOBILITY 9. DISCREET ROAD GEOMETRY ENABLING Reinforce the square’s role as a welcoming Maintain and reinforce the square’s role WALL-TO-WALL LAYOUT space, offering lasting comfort by means of as a meeting place and a thoroughfare for Subtle road geometry for a plaza spanning its trees. numerous Old Montreal itineraries. building front to building front.
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TECHNICAL CHALLENGES
Excavating within metres of the foundations of the current Additional intricacy was derived from the project’s four-season (and operational) City Hall, a priceless heritage building that building schedule, as the construction site itself needed to be did not have a basement, involved creating a diaphragm wall, heated and tents installed throughout the winter. a moulded wall system whose concrete needed to be poured simultaneously with every stage of excavation. • The fountain’s 11 pumps have a combined power of 60 HP and can circulate over 9,800 gallons per minute; 91 FOOTBALL FIELDS’ WORTH OF PLUMBING • 48 slender jets with parabolic trajectories are shared Integrating heated surfaces throughout the entire site involved among the fountain basin’s four lobes and lit by 96 LED installing 10,000 metres of pipes to heat the entire square and lights; the ramp with glycol, and electric pads to heat the prefabricated concrete stairs. • 15 foaming jets with vertical trajectories are shared among three groups of five mobile distributors at the centre of the basin, and lit by 24 custom and one-of-a-kind retractable LED lights powered by water pressure; • Fountain basin is equipped with a central trench for inserting a 15-metre-high Christmas tree, as well as lateral anchors to moor the tree to its base. The site’s very location and tourist value posed even more challenges, as closing Notre-Dame Street was not an option. This obliged much of the materials to be brought in via the stairs to the Champ de Mars, a landscaped area close to four metres down.
Fountain’s mechanics.
Photo credito : MTURB It is Montreal’s first outdoor site Mechanical room under construction. The heated square in winter, with illuminated holiday tree. to be heated in winter.
12 13 EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT
The team worked very closely with the City of Montreal and the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Gouvernement du Québec to develop the square’s new design. Heritage-based restrictions obliged retaining the shape and placement of the square, and the quadri-lobed fountain, as before.
It was Lemay and FNX-INNOV (formerly Les Consultants S.M.) who proposed, and ultimately delivered, heated surfaces for the ramp and square, making them universally accessible year-round. It was Lemay and the City of Montreal who introduced the idea for a whimsically integrated ramp and stairs, instead of simply a ramp, for strollers and people with disabilities.
Illuminated fountain with Place Vauquelin as a forecourt to City Hall. The new fountain offers spectacular programming possibilities with coordinating lights, colour and movement: with its infinite permutations, a major improvement on its predecessor.
INTEGRATING STAIRS AND RAMP At the northern edge of the square, the new Place Vauquelin’s most unique and contemporary aspect is Lemay’s stairway with integrated ramp (“stramp”) leading downward towards the Champ de Mars. Defined by tall grasses and dense shrubs on either side, the zigzagging ramp blends into the slope (unlike previous stark, monolithic stairwells at the same location). On either side of the stramp, the steps stretch outward, wide enough to act as an inviting seating area, a place for people to linger and adopt the space as their own.
The stairs and ramp are now much more inviting and original.
Previously a place of passage, Place Vauquelin has become a visitor attraction in its own right.
14 15 VEGETATION AND FURNITURE
Lemay has increased the area’s biodiversity with its vegetation selection, and introduced 35% more strategic tree cover. The canopy is now transparent enough to showcase views of the surrounding historic buildings while providing enough shade to ensure user comfort.
The new trees are resistant to urban conditions and the square’s heating system negates the need for snow removal. In a truly modern strategy, Lemay has integrated soil and growing space under the trees to guarantee their longevity.
Pale-coloured benches, bespoke tree grates and granite pavers further promote a seamless experience that leaves room for the majestic buildings and monuments to shine. This careful integration with the square’s surroundings also creates a unified esthetic reflecting the square’s noble nature.
14 15 A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION TO THE PUBLIC REALM
The rebirth of Place Vauquelin recreates and celebrates an iconic Montreal space with great respect and sensitivity. The civic heart of Montreal, the showpiece of its administrative and historic districts, has recovered its former grandeur and significance.
In its choice of materials, Lemay considered how materials would look and feel in the present, but also how they would evolve with weather and age: granite, limestone, stainless steel and other high-quality materials ensure its long-term durability.
As the first heated public square in Montreal, Place Vauquelin raises the bar for other public places to be accessible year-round.
16 17 DESIGN EXCELLENCE
When Lemay’s urban plan for the Administrative District won a National PLACE VAUQUELIN NOW Award from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA), it was praised for its audacious vision and for restoring the site’s sense OFFERS A DISTINGUISHED of place. With heritage behind its every proposed action, the jury found, STEP BACK IN TIME, Lemay demonstrated a full understanding of the district’s past and ENHANCED WITH significance. This vision and understanding of the site have flowed naturally through the Place Vauquelin redevelopment, the first phase THE MODERN COMFORTS in the restoration of the Administrative District. OF FOUR-SEASON
The project’s design excellence is derived from its preservation of the ACCESSIBILITY AND site’s genius loci combining both heritage and innovation. Lemay and SENSITIVE, MEANINGFUL its collaborators went above and beyond the project criteria, proposing DESIGN. and delivering heated surfaces, a whimsical integrated ramp and stairs, custom detailing and a vibrant fountain beckoning to all.
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